Actuating means for swivel lamp-holders.



c. N. sownsm.

AUTUATING MEANS FOR SWIVEL LAMP HOLDERS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 16, 1913. gg 1 9% Patented Mar. 31, 1914.

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flTTORA/EYS I G. N. SOWDEN ACTUATING MEANS FOR SWIVEL LAMP HOLDERS. APPLIQATIOH FILED JULY 16, 1913.

1 ;@Q 1 92769 Patented Ma1".31 ,1914.

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SOWDEN, Gill GUANTANAKVIU, CUBA.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that l, Guinness ll. Sou DEN, a subject of the King of Great Britain, and a resident oi Guantanamo, Santiago de Cuba in Province, Cuba, have invented new and improved rlctuating Means for Swivel Lanip- Holders, of which the following is a clear, and exact description. The invention relates to lump holders for 1 automobiles, locomotives and other vehicles having means for automatically turning the holder in the direction in which the vehicle is turned, and manually controlled actuating means.

The present invention is applicable to automatically controlled actuating means, manually controlled actuating means, or both, and it has reference more particu larly to lamp holders and their appurte- (P nances of the character forming the subject of the application for United States Patent filed by me November 1, 1912, Serial No. 728976, in which pull cords are connected with movable parts of the vehicle, and adol itional pull cords are under the operator. In the said arrangement the pull cord at one side of the vehicle will be I slackened when the vehicle turns, and the present invention provides a novel autolmatic take-up for the slack.

The invention will be particularly explained in the specific description following. Reference is to be had to the accompany ing drawings forming a part otthis specifib cation, in which similar characters of refereuce indicate corresponding parts in all Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of an automobile showing a practical embodimerit of my invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a plan view oi the elements shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a detail vertical section on a' larger scale of the slack take-up as applied to the right hand lamp holder, the ection being taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 5; Fig. l is a similar view including a portion of the chassis and an idler thereon, trating the relative movable parts of the take-up device in 'diiierent positions from thoseshown in Fig. 8; and Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4:.

As fully set forth in my filed application above referred to, a vertical fork or yoke 10 y is adapted to receive a lamp of any approved term, and at the base oi" the yoke a lull,

Specification oi Letters Patent.

Application filed July 16, 193.3.

the control of and illuslPatented Mai till, 33914:.

peripheral groove ll is'formed, in which a rope, cord or other flexible element 12 is given a partial turn, one end of the cord beino' secured to the yoke, as at 1%, the cord passing from the yoke to a vertical sheave or drum 13 Associated with the sheave 13 is a larger sheave 13, having the same axis of rotation. A pull cord 15 is given a partialturn on the sheave l3, and secured at one end to the latter, as at 15, said cord passing from the sheave 13" over idlers i l, 16, on chassis 1?, and extending thence transversely to the opposite side of the vehicle' where it has suitable connection. with the arm-18 of the steering knuckle lfifi in the event the invention is applied to an auto' mobile.- lhe yoke 10 and the described appurtenances and actuating devices'are duplicated on each side of the machine, and it will be understood that in practice, the arms 18 are connected in the usual manner for operation in unison. In. the present instance I have shown a transverse stretch 15 of each rope as secured to an arm 18 for the automatic turning of the lamp holder with the steering devices.

The manually controlled means illustrated for turning each lamp holder comprises in the present instance a rope or its equivalent 21, connected to a transverse stretch 15 as at 20. At the point indicated by the nu- Ineral 22 there extends a further stretch of rope 23, to the lower end of a hand pull 5%, for exerting a rearward pull on said stretch 23 and hence on the rope 21, and through the stretch 15 on the rope 15, to exert a rearward pull on the latter for turning the lamp holder and lamp. From the point 22 also, or from an adjacent point, there extends from each rope 21, a stretch 25 of rope which is given a bend around an idler suitably supported on the vehicle to a connection with a lever 27 or its equivalent, to be actuated by the pedal 2-8 so that the lamp holder may be thus turned either by the foot of the operator, or by hand.

It will be obvious that when the vehicle turns to the right, the right hand lamp will be turned to the right, but the cords l5 anol 15 of the opposite lamp holder will become slack, and to take up this slack automatically, a flat coil spring 30 is connectedat one end with a lug 31 on the sheave l3, and at its opposite end is secured to the hub 13 of the sheave 13. The sheave 13 is formed with ltlll ice a lug 32; the said lugs are disposed within the sheave 13 and in the path of rotation of each other.

As fully set forth in my above mentioned application the yoke 10 is spring-acted, a coil spring in the base serving to return the yoke to the normal position after a movement in either direction. The spring 30 is of less strength than the spring in the yoke 10, so that said spring 30 will not overcome the action of the spring in the yoke and turn the latter; on the contrary, the action of the spring 30 is localized and is effective only to cause a relative turning movement of the sheaves 13, 13.

Normally the sheaves 18, 13 will be maintained in the positions shown in Fig. 3, with the lugs 31, 82, in contact at their opposed ends; if now the vehicle turns so as to exert a pull on the rope attached to the sheave 13, the said sheave will be turned to the left in the direction of the lug 31 of the sheave 13, and will thus carry the said sheave around, the two sheaves thereby moving in unison in response to a pull on the rope 15,

and the turning ofthe sheave 13 will exert a pull on the flexible element 12 and turn the yoke 10 and the lamp A. If, on the other hand, the rope 15 becomes'slack, the spring will expand and willturn the sheave 13 relatively to the sheave 13, the lug 32 moving from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4, the yoke 10 in the meantime remaining stationary because of the greater strength of the spring in the basethereof. Obviously the relative turning of the sheaves 13, 13, willtahe slack in the rope 15, by windingthe latter on the sheave 13. When the vehicle again takes a straight direction and the two wheels up the are parallel with the vehicle, a pull will be exerted on that rope 15 the slack of which had previously been taken up, and the sheaves 13, 13 will be restored (by the lug 31) to the positions shown in Fig. 3.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The combination With a spring pressed swivel lamp holder and a flexible actuating element therefor, of a slack take-up, comprising relatively movable sheaves, and an interposed spring connected respectively with said sheaves, the sheaves being provided with co-acting engaging members, the spring when under tension tending to give a relative movement to the sheaves, and separate the mentioned members thereon, the one sheave having connection with the mentioned flexible element, and there being a flexible element connecting the other sheave with the lamp holder; the spring pressure exerted on the lamp holder being greater than the tension exerted on the sheaves by the spring thereof so that the latter spring may give a relative movement to the sheaves without affecting the lamp holder.

2. The combination with spring pressed swivel lamp holders, of sheaves, flexible elements connecting the said sheaves with the respective lamp holders, a second sheave associated with each of the first mentioned sheaves, coil s )1'ings interposed between the sheaves and tending when under tension to give a relative movement thereto, lugs on the sheaves in the pathoi movement of each other, a flexible element connected with each of the second mentioned sheaves, and wind ing in the reverse direction from the first mentioned flexible elements, and means for exerting a pull on either of the mentioned flexible elements of the second sheaves.

3. In a device of the character described, relatively movable sheaves each adapted to receive a flexible element, a coil spring between the sheaves and tending, when under tension, to give a relative movement to the sheaves, and members on the sheaves in the path of movement of each other, the spring normally. tending to so turn the sheaves as to separate the said members.

In testimony whereof 'I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' CHARLES N. SOWDEN. 1V itnesscs:

H. M. WALeo'r'r,

HERMANN llo'ru. 

